I was wrong

I thought the bulls were crazy for passing up on Beasley. But I just
watched Derrick Rose kill the Jazz (with a last second assist from
Larry Hughes). Derrick rose, today, is the 2nd best point guard in
the league.

The wisdom teeth were no problem (yet). Little to no pain. No
loopiness that I can detect. Too much pain to sleep, unfortunately.

Weekly Report #5: The Fog of Mind

At another time, our hero might have felt bad about pushing the big red button, but when he woke up this morning, he found the milk had gone bad. From there, the day had gotten worse. He was definitely pushing the button.


The Minnow Report:

The cat is on the farm. Still. I miss having a cat around, but I'm beginning to forget what it was even like.


The Baby Report:

This is the kind of weekend it has been: I was in the kitchen doing something, and baby was snuggled up in Mom's arms looking tired. I walked into the living room and went to hug the two of them, and baby swung his arm at me and shouted 'dap!' (stop!). So I went and sat down. The baby promptly squirmed until mom put him down, walked over to me, and smacked me on the knee and shouted 'dap! dap!'. Yeah. The boy has been irritable.


NBA Thoughts:

Shaq suddenly got new life, but the Suns as a whole are depressing. Outside of the Lakers, the West is wide open. The Iverson Pistons might be better than I thought, but the Celtics look to be head and shoulders about everyone out East. Is this going to be another one of those decades?


The Beat Goes On:

I heard on NPR this morning that some study found that only three things seem to correlate to 'happiness': Camping, singing and dancing. I could believe that.


The Teeth...:

...Are coming out tomorrow. I've passed through terror and am over into acceptance. It will happen, it will be fine, and I will be better off because of it. Right? Right. I'll practically be on vacation.


And nothing else:

Yeah, I guess not much has been happening.

Sitting in the hotel room

Depression. I don't think I have any kind of clinical depression, but damn, sitting alone in a hotel room, with the sun down, and only memories of friends in my mind, drags me to a weird place.

I remember earlier today, standing on the gravel banks of the Neosho, looking at the clouds weaving across an otherwise sunny blue sky, and I felt the anger and sadness boiling out of me under the pressure from the blazing sun.

I miss my friends, and I miss times that have already passed. I yearn for times that have not yet come.

The present seems quaint and pointless when you are 300 miles from redemption and your other half. Especially in the dark.

So many cool people I've known in my life, who have slipped away, or are slipping away, or are likely to slip away, out of my limited ability to remain in contact. Washed or washing away by time and circumstance and my own inability to stay in touch.

Everything seems unbearable in the dark.

Weekly Report #4

Ahh Veteran's day. I have Veteran's day off. Yay.


The Minnow Report:

I once had a cat,
Who sat in a hat,
And rolled around on her back.

Eventually she got up,
And ate some sup,
And fell asleep on the heating vent.


The Baby Report:

Son. I hope someday, you read this, and you ask me about it, and I explain it to you.

Learn some damn patience. You have never been so close to being put in your crib and left there to cry all damned day for all I care. And that would require me to put your crib back together first!

It has been a long couple of days, and I have seen that screaming baby face too often.


Veteran's Day:

Just like every other damned holiday, somebody's sick. This time its the wife and the baby is probably coming down with it. I'm drinking OJ like a madman.


Walking in the cold and dark:

For some reason, my job has evolved into one where I sit in the office all the danged time. How did this happen? Regardless, in order to get any outdoor time at all, I'm taking walks at night. In any weather. Last night was cold, drizzly with a strong north-western wind. I've never been so happy to have my face chilled.


NBA- OK City Edition:

So Russell Westbrook is an exciting player who pretty much singlehandily gave the thunder their only win of the year (he also rallied them back in their first game of the year). But he's a 6-3 shooting guard in a point guard's body with no play-making abiliity. Can anyone think of another player that has been at all successful in the NBA with that formula? Does Allen Iverson count? He might be the only one, and it isn't like AI's teams have been constant playoff contenders. I'm not sure if I have a point, but damn, there's a long list of guys who fit that description and never made their teams better.


Music:

Before NPR, would anyone in the US have ever heard Mongolian folk music? Seriously Hanggai is awesome. I like all three of the songs on that page.


The Election:

Have I not talked about this yet? How strongly can I put this:

I have never, in my entire adult life, been inspired by any politician. Not even a little. The most I could say is that some politicians have convinced me that they wouldn't be complete failures (Nader in '00; Gore in '06...yes I realize he ran in '00). I've also been convinced for some time that a third party would be beneficial, but I've come to realize this is impossible in a psuedo democracy like we have (it would only be appropriate in a parlimentary system).

On the other hand, Barack Obama inspires. I don't think it is too little to say that he's the most inspiring politician of the modern era, and only JFK would be in the conversation. The reason is that he is an intelligent, motivated, articulate, principled person. He treats people with respect, he is opposed to all the things America ought to be opposed to, and, like a lot of us, he is dismayed with the way America has been run into the ground over the last 8 years.

I'm with you Barack. All the way.


And in closing:

The Kansas Jayhawks are beginning their quest to repeat as NCAA college basketball champions. The road is long. The road will have ups and downs, but mark my words, this will be a good team.

Weekly Report No 3.

We now return to our hero's residence, where he pens a short account of his week's travels and submits it to the internet. Where no-one will read it.

The Minnow Report:

Meow meow meow meow.


The Baby Report:

Fussy this evening. Probably exhausted after a weekend of playing with Grandma and Grandpa on the Lake and Grandma and Grandpa on the Farm. Pretty exciting stuff! Honestly, mom and dad were downright boring tonight.


Wal-Mart:

I'm not sure how to say this. I know I don't dress like a hippy, and I've never smoked weed, and I've never seriously pushed to adopt a communal living lifestyle...But damnit, ideologically, I'm the most left-leaning person I've ever met. And yet, I have to admit that I have been going to Wal-Mart. This is what living in a small town does to you: There are 2 grocery stores.

Here are some of the things that Dillons (Kroger) doesn't stock but that are available at Wal-Mart:
Garam masala
Coconut milk
Acorn Squash
Pie Pumpkins
Pork roasts (!)

And then there are things that are prohibitively expensive at Dillons, but affordable at Wal-Mart:
Wheat Thins (I'm 9/10ths Wheat Thin at this point)
Canning supplies (all of it!)
Organic chips
Vinegar
Olive oils

So what am I supposed to do here? I can't very well cook indian food without garam masala! And why doesn't Dillons have coconut milk? It's frustrating.


Oklahoma City Thundar:

Last week my uncle and I added to the list of NBA teams we've seen play in person. We were on-site for the first ever game of the Oklahoma City Thunder. I've had a long discussion internally about whether I could support this team because of blah blah blah: It was a good time and yay! it is now a relatively short drive to see the NBA!!


Places to Live:

One of the interesting discussions my uncle and I had was: "If you could live in any NBA city, where would it be?"
Oklahoma City was pretty spectacular while we were there. 70 degrees, Chicago style (and quality) italian food, a bar with 212 different beers on tap, a really good brewery. I'd say it probably vaulted into my top 5 just from that trip alone. The other two cities I would like to live in are Portland and Chicago (although Chicago is pretty cold for my soul), and I could envision living in New Orleans or Charlotte. The basic idea is the city has to have fun natural areas nearby, not be so big that I'm intimidated, be a nice climate, and have a 'weird' vibe. I actually can't think of an NBA city that fits all those criteria, but Portland is probably the closest.


Daylight savings:

This is stupid. Stupid stupid stupid.


Culinary Fun:

Did I mention I've been making a really easy squash soup? Half an onion, a slice of bacon, a smallish squash (softened with skin removed), and chicken stock. Cook the onion and bacon first, then add the squash and stock. Cook longer. Puree in food processor. Add a little pepper (Alton Brown would probably use white pepper). The original recipe called for sage, of which I have none, so whatever. The whole thing takes about thirty minutes to make. Delicious. 2 slices of bacon is too much.

Let's see, I also made chicken satay, cookies, lasanga, a tator tot casserole, cabbage soup (cream, canned tomatoes, and cabbage...w/ a little basil, that's it), tacos, and yogurt cheese spread. The yogurt cheese spread is actually really cool too. Just take some plain non-fat yogurt, wrap in a cheesecloth or tea towel and allow it to drain. Then chop up chives and onion (not too much) and set aside (or hell, use whatever spice you want...garlic can be a bit much). After the yogurt has drained for ~ 2-3 hours (longer = better), mix the spices and the yogurt (which could be considered 'greek yogurt' or yogurt cheese depending on the consistency), apply to Wheat Thins and enjoy.


Final thought:

"I wonder if making lasanga every other week is too much"
- Wife and I discussing our weekly cooking strategy. I made lasanga last week, but wasn't around to really eat it. On the other hand, she had it for 4 meals. Maybe every third week.